After earning an upset win over No. 13 Stanford and BYU in the NCAA regional semifinals last Thursday, the University of Denver gymnastics squad completed their season as a team on Saturday night.
DU placed third in the Salt Lake City regional final with a 197.350 team score, less than three tenths away from a berth in the NCAA Championships. No. 4 Utah and No. 5 UCLA earned the two bids from the regional final and will compete in the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas on April 17 and 19.
To start rotation one, the Crimson and Gold had their best season performance on the balance beam with a 49.550 team score, improving by a tenth and a half.
Graduate student Bella Mabanta secured a 9.950 score, good for a tie for the best overall beam score in the finals. Senior Momoko Iwai and sophomore Madison Ulrich also each recorded a 9.900.
Rotation two was another strong showcase on the floor and DU had all six gymnasts record a 9.850 score or higher. After the first three routines, junior Cecilia Cooley posted a 9.900; Mabanta followed with a 9.925, and Ulrich brought it home with a 9.950, her best score in the meet.
The impressive start was the first time in program postseason history that the squad collected 99-plus points through the first two rotations. Even more impressive, Denver did it in the events where they were ranked the lowest heading into the postseason.
But, a 48.900 team score during rotation three in the vault event fumbled the strong momentum DU had. Mabanta and junior Mila Brusch led the way with 9.850 scores, and graduate student Rylie Mundell competed in the event for the first time since February and recorded a 9.650.
The lead Denver held after the first two rotations was gone, and Denver had 0.250 points to make up in the fourth and final rotation to make it back into the top two. Despite a valiant 49.400 effort in the uneven bars event, the comeback fell short. Junior Kiley Rorich and senior Mia Hebnick led the way with 9.900 scores.
Ulrich was the only all-around competitor for DU in the finals and finished tied for third place with UCLA and Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles. Utah’s Grace McCallum took home the top all-around spot, and UCLA’s Chae Campbell finished in second place, 0.025 points ahead of Ulrich and Chiles.
The DU gymnastics program will say goodbye to several of its upperclassmen gymnasts after the end of the season. Mundell, Mabanta, Rosie Casali and Abbie Thompson took advantage of an extra season of eligibility in 2025, while Iwai and Hebnick will be leaving the program as true seniors.
Each made a unique individual contribution to the program that will be hard to fill. But, Denver’s Head Coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart and staff has already laid the groundwork to have a successful next season.
Kutcher-Rinehart landed the No. 8 recruiting class for the 2025-26 season, and DU will bring in five gymnasts next season. Four of the five gymnasts are ranked as four-star recruits, according to College Gym News. DU’s ranking is second in the Big 12 conference, only trailing Utah.
Utah and UCLA will join six other teams to compete for the NCAA title next week, alongside 12 all-around individual competitors and 64 individual event specialists who are not part of the qualifying teams.
DU will be sending three gymnasts to compete individually at the championships. Casali will be competing in the vault event, Mundell will be competing in the bars event and Ulrich will be going for an all-around title.
